Shariah compliant buy-now-pay-later platform Tabby has secured US$58 million in Series C funding, which raises the valuation of the Dubai start-up to US$660 million, one of the highest in the region.
Tabby attracted big venture capital names for its latest funding round, including Sequoia Capital India, STV, Mubadala Investment Capital, Arbor Ventures and Endeavor Catalyst as well as PayPal Ventures. Tabby is PayPal Ventures’s first GCC investment. Funds will be channeled toward product development and supporting Tabby’s growing operations.
In the four years since its founding in 2019, the UAE firm has expanded into Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Egypt. It has built a merchant base of over 10,000 brands including nine out of the 10 largest retail groups in MENA – it recently launched with e-commerce marketplace noon. In 2022, the start-up hit the 3 million active shoppers’ milestone and grew its revenue by five times year-on-year, it said. Last year, it also expanded into Egypt, marking its North African expansion, and introduced its cards program, which now makes up over 10% of its volumes, having issued over 150,000 Tabby Cards in six months since launch.
Tabby, which was certified Shariah compliant in 2021, has been on a winning streak: the latest round of investment follows a US$150 million debt financing round last August hot on the heels of a Series B extension earlier in 2022. To-date, the start-up has raised US$333 million in capital.
“We are excited to see Tabby grow into a leading consumer focused fintech company for the region. Over the next few years, it has the opportunity to offer several innovative products to its consumers to improve access while creating more affordability,” commented GV Ravishankar, the managing director of Sequoia India.
The global BNPL market is projected to reach US$20.4 billion by 2028, registering a cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.4% from 2021-28, according to Grand View Research. In the UAE specifically, BNPL is expected to grow by 52.6% on an annual basis to reach US$509.5 million, according to figures from ResearchAndMarkets. A 17.9% CAGR is forecasted for the market during 2021-28. In Saudi on the other hand, BNPL payments are expected to rise by 50.1% to US$284.7 million this year with a CAGR of 16.4% over the same period.